Guided Search: History and Preservation, Middle East

In her new book from Cambridge University Press, Heather Sharkey explores the history of day-to-day relations between Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Middle East, a region once marked by great diversity that is today largely absent. In doing so, she unearths a past poorly understood while offering perspective on today’s conflict-riven region. An award-winning teacher at the University of Pennsylvania, Sharkey received her Ph.D. in history from Princeton University.

$10 for Non-Members.

A conversation with Afshon Ostovar.

Foreign Policy Research Institute's ​Geopolitics with Granieri will feature Afshon Ostovar, Assistant Professor of National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School, on his new book Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, Iran's most powerful armed force.

After briefly talking about alphabets and writing systems, Dr. Erika Gilson, will present the Turkic languages in history, their geographic spread, and principal linguistic markers, as well as the alphabets used for Turkic languages in history. Focusing next on the quest for a Common Alphabet, Dr. Gilson will discuss some of its historic background, namely the 1926 Baku Conference, and the 1991 International Symposium on Contemporary Turkic alphabets, and summarize the current state and discussions relating to alphabet matters amongst the Turkic peoples.

It all began with an angry young man in Tunisia. Following Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation, a revolt ensued and the period in history known as the “Arab Spring” was born. Inspired by this single act of desperation, the people of the Middle East and North Africa hoped to address the battles of the disenfranchised and marginalized, with the expectation that the populations sharing the bonds of ethnicity and religion would be unified.

The Welcome Reception introduces international students and scholars to the Philadelphia area and to the rich network of global communities and resources in the region. The event is provided free of charge to international students and scholars from universities in the Delaware Valley region, featuring live multicultural performances and cuisine.

 In honor of the first visit by Pope Francis and the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, the Penn Museum, in conjunction with the Penn Libraries, offers Sacred Writings: Extraordinary Texts of the Biblical World, a special exhibition of rare artifacts from the Museum Collection and rare books and manuscripts from the Penn Libraries.

Join fellow travelers for a sociable exchange of world travels, with delicious hors d’oeuvres and a glass of wine included.

SUKHISHILI has performed for fifty million people in eighty-eight countries on five continents. It was a headline attraction with New York City Ballet for the George Balanchine Centennial. It has previously performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Avery Fisher Hall, Madison Square Garden Albert Hall, the Rome Coliseum and La Scala where it was enthusiastically welcomed with rousing ovation and a record-setting number of curtain calls.